URGENT CALL TO ACTION! Comment to US Army Corps before Midnight Aug. 1st

Posted by Thane Maxwell51sc on August 01, 2016

So, you know how the US Army Corps just approved the water crossing permits for the Dakota Access Pipeline? That was illegal. The way they do it (for this and many other pipelines) is by using this thing called "Nationwide Permit 12". They chop up a huge project into thousands of individual pieces (water crossings) and then rubber stamp each one saying its no big deal. It's totally absurd! Today is the deadline for public comment on their proposal to renew Nationwide Permit 12. Please send them an email before midnight tonight, August 1, telling them how you feel.

And here are some sample comments that members of our staff put together, in case you want to use or adapt etc, feel free.

"The USACE uses Nationwide Permit 12 to improperly segment major oil and gas pipeline projects and circumvent critical laws designed to protect the public and Mother Earth by assessing cumulative impacts posed by the entirety of the projects. The Clean Water Act’s general permit program was intended for projects with minimal environmental impacts, such as boat ramps, mooring buoys, and recreational facilities. It was not intended for massive interstate pipelines that transport hazardous materials and pose grave risks of leaks, spills, and explosions. In recent years, USACE has used this permit to fast track the Gulf Coast Pipeline, the southern half of the now-rejected Keystone XL pipeline, the Flanagan South pipeline, the Dakota Access pipeline, and many others, by artificially treating the pipelines as thousands of “single and complete projects” that each qualify separately under NWP12. This method of fragmentation allows the Army Corps to rubber-stamp major pipeline projects without adequate environmental review or opportunity for public participation as required by federal law. This is outrageous. This is criminal. You're killing people and the planet is burning. Revoke the permit or modify it to restrict it to a distinct list of genuinely "single" projects with genuinely minimal impact on the environment. Thank you."